Prefabricated building wall construction



April 14, 1964 G. J. CHELL ETAL PREFABRICATED BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTIONFiled Sept. 2'7, 1960 s s m a. u mfiam m mmw m r W m 5. a n mb 0 8P2 m5United States Patent 3,128,852 PREFABRICATED BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION7 Glenn J. Chell, Highland Park, Ill. (5425 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago,Ill.); Brooks Buderus, 233 N. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Ill.; andRobert Palmer, 1819 /2 Hinman Ave., Evanston, Ill.

Filed Sept. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 58,697 1 Claim. (Cl. 189-34) Thisinvention relates to the construction of buildings and pertainsparticularly to a prefabricated building wall construction.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedbuilding wall which comprises prefabri cated frames having side membersformed with pairs of laterally projecting fins to facilitate theformation of secure and weathertight joints between the engaging sidemembers of adjacent frames.

A further object is to provide a new and improved construction of theforegoing character in which each side member is provided with a pair ofclosely spaced fins and a pair of widely spaced fins, so arranged thatthe closely spaced fins on one side member are received between thewidely spaced fins on the adjacent side member, to form a tight jointbetween the frames.

Another object is to provide a new and improved construction of theforegoing character, in which the adjacent frames may be securedtogether by means of bolts which extend between and are threadedlyengaged with the closely spaced fins.

A further object is to provide a new and improved construction of theforegoing character in which the finned side members may readily beformed at low cost by extruding them from aluminum material.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear fromthe following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a prefabricatedbuilding wall to be described as an illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section, taken generally along a line 22 in FIG.1, through the side members employed in the frames of the building wall.

FIG. 3 is a vertical section, taken generally along a line 3--3 in FIG.1, through the bottom cross member of one of the frames It will be seenthat FIG. 1 illustrates a prefabricated building wall which is of thegeneral type illustrated, described and claimed in our copendingapplications, Serial No. 768,108, filed October 20, 1958, and Serial No.46,- 019, filed July 28, 1960. Thus, the illustrated building wallcomprises a plurality of prefabricated, generally rectangular frames 12which are erected edge to edge on a sill 14 made of stone or othersuitable material. In this case, the sill 14 is made in sections whichare mounted on a concrete foundation or footing 16. A bed of mortar 18may be employed between the sill 14 and the foundation 16. Within thebuilding, a concrete floor 20 may be poured so as to be level with theupper edge of the sill 14. A special frame 12a may be provided toreceive a door 22.

It will be seen that each of the rectangular frames 12 comprises a pairof spaced vertical side members 24. A plurality of horizontal crossmembers extend between the side members 24 and are welded or otherwisesecured to the side members so that the frames will be extremely rigid.It will be seen that each of the illustrated frames 12 is formed withthree cross members 26, 28 and 30. The cross member 26 extends acrossthe top of the frame 12, between the upper ends of the side members 24.The member 30 extends across the bottom of the frame 12,

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between the lower ends of the side members 24. It will be seen that themember 28 extends between the side members 24 at an intermediate pointso as to form upper and lower openings 31 and 32 in the frame 12. Asshown, the openings 31 and 32 may be closed with panels of variouskinds. Thus, a glass panel 34 may be mounted in the opening 31 toprovide a window. In some of the frames, a glass panel 36 may also bemounted in the lower opening 32. However, in other frames, the loweropening 32 may be closed by an exterior closure panel 38 made of asuitable material, such as stone, metal, or the like. On the inside ofthe wall, an interior Wall panel 40 may be mounted in the opening 32.The panel 40 may be made of anysuitable interior wall material, such asinsulating board, plaster board, plywood or the like.

Each of the vertical side members 24 has a fin or flange 42 thereonwhich projects into the openings 31 and 32 defined by the frame. Thevarious closure panels 34, 36, 38 and 40 may be mounted against the fins42. It will be seen that the fins 42 extend longitudinally along theside members 24. Similar fins 44 are formed on the cross members 26, 28and 30.

The intermediate cross member 28 may be disposed at any suitable heightin the frame. In the case of the door frame 12a, the cross member 28 isat a height corresponding to the top of the door 22. It will be seenthat the bottom cross member is omitted in the case of the door frame12a.

The adjacent side members 24 of the adjacent frames 12 are engaged witheach other and are securely fastened together, so as to unite the framesinto a rigid wall. The united side members 24 act as load-bearingcolumns to support the weight imposed upon the building wall 10. Thus,the frames 12 not only close the wall, but also bear any load imposed onthe wall, without the need for additional columns of any kind. Thisarrangement makes it possible to construct a building very economically.

It will be seen that roof or ceiling beams 48 may be bolted or otherwisesecured to the side members 24, so that the weight borne by the beamswill be carried by the side members. A roof deck 50 may be mounted onthe beams 48. As shown, the roof 50 has an outwardly overhanging portion52 supported by outwardly extending sections 54 of the beams 48.

The upper cross member 26 and the intermediate cross member 28 may besimilar in cross section and may comprise a hollow rectangular bodyportion 56. The fins 44 may project upwardly and downwardly from thebody 56.

The bottom cross member 30 comprises a hollow body section 58 which isgenerally in the form of an inverted channel. Thus, the body '58 has ahorizontal top wall 60, with vertical side walls or flanges 6-2projecting downwardly therefrom. The fin 44 extends upwardly from thetop wall 60. Horizontal flanges 64 project inwardly from the lower edgesof the side walls 62. In this case, longitudinal fins 66 projectdownwardly from the flanges 64 and are adapted to engage the uppersurface of the stone sill 14.

The cross members 26, 28 and 30 may be made of extruded aluminum orother suitable material. The same is true of the side members 24.Extruded aluminum has the advantages of being economical, easy to form,corrosion resistant, and extremely light in weight.

As shown to advantage in 'FIG. 2 each of the side members 24 has ahollow tubular body 70 which is rectangular in cross section. The body70 may be extruded in one piece from aluminum or other suitablematerial.

Thus, the body 70 of the side member 24 has four walls 71, 72, 73 and74. The walls 72 and 74 face toward the inside and the outside of thebuilding, while the Walls 71 and 73 face laterally along the line of thewall. It

will be seen that the panel-supporting fin 42 projects laterally fromthe wall 71.

To assist in forming the joints between the frames 12, each of the sidemembers 24 has a pair of closely spaced fins 75 and 76, land a pair ofwidely spaced fins 77 and 78. These fins extend longitudinally along theside member and project laterally from the wall 73. The closely spacedfins 75 and 76 are staggered relative to the widely spaced fins 77 and78 so that the closely spaced fins on one side member will be receivedbetween the widely spaced fins on the adjacent side member of theadjacent frame. Thus, the spacing between the widely spaced fins 77 and78 corresponds to the total distance spanned by the closely spaced fins75 and 76. This arrangement provides an extremely snug and weather-tightjoint between the adjacent side members 24. The height of the fins 75,76 and 78 is substantially the same so that the outer edges of thesefins will engage the side wall 73 of the adjacent side member. In theillustrated construction, the height of the fin 77 is less than that ofthe fins 75, 76 and 78. A still tighter joint may be formed between theframes 12 by inserting a soft gasket 01' sealing strip 80 between thewalls 73 of the adjacent side members 24. The sealing strip 80 may bemade of synthetic rubber or other suitable material. As shown, thesealing strip 80 is mounted between the fins 76 and 77 of one of theside members so as to be concealed from view.

The inter-locking arrangement of the fins 75, 76, 77 and 78 providesmany engaging surfaces to exclude wind and rain from the joint betweenthe frames. Moreover, the interlocking fins hold the side members 24against any inward or outward shifting movement.

The frames 12 may be securely fastened together by means of bolts 84.extends through openings 86 and 88 in the lateral walls 71 and 73 of oneof the adjacent side members 24. The inner end of the bolt extendsbetween and is threadedly engaged with the closely spaced fins 75 and76. The bolt 84 may be of the self-tapping type, so that it will formits own threads on the fins 75 and 76 as the bolt is screwed between thefins. It will be apparent that the fins 75 and 76 act as nut membersadapted to receive the self-tapping bolt 84 and extending the fulllength of the side member 24.

The illustrated bolt 84 has a flat head 90' which is counter-sunk intoan opening 92 around the hole 86. The wall 71 has a boss portion 94 ofincreased thickness so that the counter-sunk opening 92 may be formedwithout weakening the wall. The boss portion 94 is of substantiallygreater thickness than the remainder of the wall 71. The boss portion 94may extend longitudinally along the entire length of the side member 24.Thus,

In this case, each of the bolts 84 A. the bolt 84 may be located at anydesired position along the length of the side member. The boss 94provides continuous reinforcement, while the fins 75 and 76 provide acontinuous nut member along the entire length of the side member 24.

It will be apparent that the prefabricated frames 12 may be manufacturedvery readily and at low cost. Moreover, the frames may be assembled veryeasily and quickly to form the completed building wall. Very littlelabor is required to assemble the frames, so that the erection of thewall is inexpensive. The construction of the frames assures that thejoints between the frames will be snug and weathertight.

Various modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents may beemployed without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention, as exemplified in the foregoing description and defined inthe following claim.

We claim:

In a building wall construction, the combination comprising a pair ofadjacent elongated structural members, each of said members being hollowand generally rectangular in cross section, each of said members havingfour parallel fins projecting laterally therefrom and extendinglongitudinally therealong, said fins projecting toward the adjacentmember of said pair, said four fins on each structural member beinggrouped into a first pair of fins and a second pair of fins with asubstantial interval between said first and second pairs of fins, thespacing between the fins of said second pair being relatively wide andcorresponding to the total distance spanned by the fins of said firstpair, the first pair of fins on each member being received between thesecond pair of fins on the adjacent member to form snug jointstherebetween, a soft resilient gasket compressed between the adjacentstructural members and disposed in the interval between said pairs offins, said structural members having bolt holes extending therethroughand disposed substantially midway between said fins of said second pair,and self-tapping threaded bolts extending through said bolt holes andthreadedly tapped between the fins of the first pair on each structuralmember, each bolt tapping its own threads on the corresponding firstpair of fins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.24,133 Bloedow Mar. 20, 1956 2,792,086 Tyree May 14, 1957 2,963,126Cudini Dec. 6, 1960 2,976,969 Gillespie Mar. 28, 1961 3,018,859 StrubenIan. 30, 1962

